Attack by Platypus quercivorus Enhances Diameter Growth of Surviving Quercus serrata

作者：Hata Kenji^*; Iwai Noriko; Sawada Haruo

来源：Forest Science, 2014, 60(6): 1024-1028.

DOI：10.5849/forsci.13-118

• biological disturbance
• oak wilt disease
• Quercus spp.
• Raffaelea quercivora

Attack by the oak platypodid beetle, Platypus quercivorus, which introduces the pathogenic fungus Raffaelea quercivorus can change the growth pattern of oak tree species, although an appropriate evaluation of the effects of oak wilt attack on the growth patterns has not been conducted to date. To evaluate the effects, we calculated the growth rates of individual Quercus serrata. Study trees were examined before and after attacks by the oak platypodid beetle. To compare the changes in tree size and growth rates, we measured the DBH of Q. serrata in a 1-ha plot of the Tokyo University forests in Aichi, University of Tokyo, Japan, between 2008 and 2012. We compared the sizes and absolute growth rates of attacked but survived and of unattacked Q. serrata in terms of the DBH changes over the study period. Temporal patterns of DBH differed between attacked and unattacked trees, especially after attack of surviving P. quercivorus-infested trees. Specifically, the absolute growth rates of attacked but surviving trees increased after the insect attack. Our initial hypothesis that an attack by P. quercivorus would reduce the DBH growth rate of Q. serrata was not supported, at least not within the first few years following the attack in one 1-ha plot. Instead, our results suggested that attack by P. quercivorus enhanced the growth of attacked but surviving Q. serrata.

• 出版日期2014-12